Project Prospect's Top 25 Prospect List

May 14, 2007
Check back every Monday for the only weekly updated Top 25 prospect rankings on the internet
No. Player   Pos Notes Age Org Level   Pre.
1   Tim Lincecum   RHP   Went 7.0 innings & allowed just 2 ER in Coors...6 K, 1 BB, 7 H; NL ROY favorite   22   SF   MLB   1
2   Phil Hughes   RHP   Expect him to be healthy and done w/ rehab in time to join Yankees around July   20   NYY   MLB   2
3   Billy Butler   OF   1-for-11 (.091/.083/.091) vs. MLB lefties; 8-for-26 (.308/.333/.385) vs. righties   21   KC   MLB   4
4   Alex Gordon   3B   2B on Sun was 1st XBH since Apr. 29; 2-for-19 week has him at .164/.297/.259   23   KC   MLB   5
5   Josh Hamilton   OF   First bad week this year: 1-for-20 with a 1B and 1 BB vs.4 K; .257/.342/.552   25   CIN   MLB   2
6   Yovani Gallardo   RHP   Worst start for K's & BB all year: 5.2 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 4 K; 33.1% K this year   21   MIL   AAA   6
7   Jay Bruce   OF   8-for-21 last week with 2B, 2 HR, and 4 BB vs. 2 K; .338/.392/.627 in High-A   20   CIN   A+   8
8   Brandon Wood   3B   Sent back to AAA on Wed; 4-for-21 since w/ 2B & HR; .422 AAA SLG in 109 ab 22   LAA   MLB   7
9   Evan Longoria   3B   Lookout Brandon Wood! Longoria went just 7-for-26 last week but 3 HR & a 2B   21   TB   AA   10
10   Daisuke Matsuzaka   RHP   Just 5.0 IP away from graduating; 47 K vs. 18 BB and 1.29 WHIP this season   26   BOS   MLB   9
11   Justin Upton   OF   XBH% was actually better in '06; last HR was Apr. 29; 5-for-22 last week, 2B   19   ARI   A+   11
12   Clay Buchholz   RHP   Makeup vs. tools + '06 stats vs. '07 stats + MLB bound? = EXCITING PROSPECT   22   BOS   AA   19
13   Andy LaRoche   3B   Remember watching his first MLB hit go for 2 bases?…that was his last XBH   23   LAD   MLB   13
14   Homer Bailey   RHP   Let's give him until July 8th to get back on track; 27 K vs. 19 BB in 39.2 AAA IP   21   CIN   AAA   12
15   Jarrod Saltalamacchia   C   Has just 12 big league at-bats over 12 days in bigs; 3 hits since call-up…all 1B   22   ATL   MLB   15
16   Fernando Martinez   OF   Returned from missing 3 games with jammed pinky by going 2-for-5 on Sun   18   NYM   AA   18
17   Ryan Braun   3B   Strained groin and sore wrist have kept him off the diamond since May 5th   23   MIL   AAA   16
18   Cameron Maybin   OF   Though he went 9-for-28 last week, he had just one XBH; .312/.434/.496 in A+   20   DET   A+   19
19   Colby Rasmus   OF   Colby's dad told me that even he is amazed by how well his son is playing   20   STL   AA   23
20   Clayton Kershaw   LHP   Never had given up more than 3 ER entering Sun; 1.1 IP, 5 H, 7 ER, 4 BB, 2 K   19   LAD   A   14
21   Matt Garza   RHP   7.0 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K on Sat = best start of season; still, .280 BAA   23   MIN   MLB   21
22   Travis Buck   OF   Wrist injury slowed him last week; 1-for-4 in two PH appearances and one GS   23   OAK   MLB   20
23   Hunter Pence   OF   2 2B, 3B, & HR in 2nd full major league week (8-for-23); .273/.310/.819 in MLB   24   HOU   MLB   24
24   Will Inman   RHP   49 K vs. 7 BB and .213 BAA haved allowed unlikely top 25 candidate to jump in   24   MIL   A+   NR
25   Felix Pie   OF   10-for-20 with a 2B and 2 3B in four games since returning from MLB to AAA   21   CHC   MLB   NR
                             
Honorable Mentions: Joey Votto, Kevin Slowey, Reid Brignac, Elijah Dukes, Daric Barton, Adam Miller, Jacoby Ellsbury.            
Graduated (last week's ranking): None.                
Dropped Out (Top 25 ranking): Elijah Dukes (22) and Reid Brignac (25)                
                             
* our rankings combine a player's ceiling with the odds that he'll reach it                
** ages are as of May 20th, 2007                    
*** Level is the highest level the player has reached                
**** Pre. is the player's rankings from last week's Top 25                
                             
<<< Click here to see our May 7th Top 25 Rankings                

 

Disclaimer
Our in-season Top 25 rankings are a tool that we’ve chosen to implement for the first time this season. We realize that this weekly exercise cannot be as thorough as creating a Top 100 prospect list – which involves months of thought and research. So why even bother publishing these rankings? For fun.

Just like any coaches poll or other in-season rankings, our rankings won’t be as concrete as the ones that can be made when you’re looking at something somewhat after the fact. (We’re still adjusting to the volatile nature of in-season rankings as well.) Lists will stray far from then maybe come back to looking like our previous prospect lists. A few odd names will work their way into the rankings--emphasis is on recent performance.

Think of these rankings like a giant coliseum battle. Everyone will be going after everyone; the air will be cluttered with dust. Then our Top 100 prospect list will be our take once the dust settles. Until then, just remember that's we're trying to judge a battle while it's still in progress.

We hope to provide an entertaining glimpse of our thought process, and a snapshot of how the prospect scene changes throughout the season.

A few other important notes: 1) More than ever, we’re going to begin relying on numbers for our rankings. Perhaps we could make better lists by regularly talking to people in the industry, but that’s not our style. 2) We’ll be balancing 2006 and 2007 numbers in order to draw upon the best sample that we see fit – the same methods will be applied to each prospect.


I am prepared to answer questions in more detail upon email request,

Adam Foster
Project Prospect Founder
adamwfoster@gmail.com